unMass Effect
by Nichiwwa
Summary: What would happen if Earth developed spaceflight tech 40 years before they discovered the Prothean Archives and the Mass Relay. what would happen if they initiated first contact with the Asari? Humanity with a spine! Non-Council Humanity.
1. Chapter 1

**unMass Effect**

**Stepford Spacewives**

**A/N**

Hey everyone! Right I've decided to write a Mass Effect fic. Don't worry though, my other two haven't been abandoned I'm just hesitant to rush thought he chapters, and while I was brainstorming some ideas, BAM! The muse for this fic slapped me in the face.

It's essentially what I think would happen if Humanity had developed FTL spaceflight way, way, way before they did in Canon, by accident of course. So that by the time they found the Prothean cache on Mars, Mass Effect technology (when it comes to spaceflight) is completely inferior and obsolete. No I'm not saying what they use instead, that's cheating. Read and find out.

And I know people are going to want to murder me in cold blood for this but I'm essentially making Humanity one giant Mary Sue species. If that's going to bother people then don't read any further, it's as simple as that.

Also, instead on meeting the Turians first, they meet the Asari. And don't worry, I'll try and make it more 'actiony' than it sounds.

When it comes to weapons technology, it runs along the same level as their spaceflight tech. So vastly superior to MEtech.

So enjoy and let me know what you think, reviews are always welcome.

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

The _Sun Tzu _exited from hyperspace in a maelstrom of greens and blues, decelerating hard before the structure at its front.

Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance was bored. She was sent to the Shanxi-Theta relay to see if they could activate it.

She couldn't see the point.

It had been 80 years since they discovered the Charon relay and turned it on, subsequently discovering this system. But Humanity had already discovered a means of traversing the Galaxy, Hyperspace. It was a method they had accidentally stumbled upon while performing experiments into Anti-Matter, which was 40 years before they found the Prothean Cache on Mars. That lead them to discovering the Mass Relay.

To Humanity, Mass Effect technology lost its appeal in 2100, after they had reverse engineered everything they could out of it for more terrestrial purposes. Element zero was used from everything to hover cars, to toothbrushes. But ultimately, it was rendered obsolete in the Military and Spaceflight very early on.

Despite having the means to expand and colonise every suitable planet they stumbled across, Humans kept to themselves, only recently did they colonise two worlds, Shanxi (mainly a military and civilian colony) and Eden Prime (an agricultural planet founded to meet the ever growing demands from Earth and Shanxi for food).

So Hannah found herself sitting in her Captains chair on the 20km long Dreadnaught cursing the politicians to oblivion.

'Why the hell are I and the crew out here? Yeah sure, the relays can transport us across the Galaxy almost instantaneously, but we have the engines to render these hulking pieces of metal useless'

She huffed out a breath and addressed her Comms Officer.

"Lt. Williams, contact the _Heimdall_ and see if they're ready to activate the relay". The Lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement and spoke into her microphone.

"Ma'am, the _Heimdall_ is ready to proceed, they also asked for you to warn the crew to brace themselves, just in case".

Hannah snorted, but heeded their advice, activating the ship-wide communications. "All hands this is the Captain speaking, be advised that the science team are about to activate the relay, please brace yourselves for any and all eventualities". She flicked off the comm and sighed. It was turning out he be a tedious day.

**Shanxi-Theta System: Asari Science Vessel Niazala: 2157**

Matriarch Shia T'Rosi was bored.

Her ship was performing routine scans of an outer Asteroid Belt in an uncharted system, looking for Eezo deposits. So far, they hadn't found anything.

They had been here for three days, and the tediousness was starting to grate on Shia's nerves, along with the nerves of everyone on board. She was about to order her Navigation Officer to move to the next section of the belt when the ships VI roused the alarms.

"Alert! Unidentified vessels have entered the system!"

Shia sat straighter in her seat, 'who could it be? The Salarians wouldn't be out this far, it could be the Turians. Best find out I suppose'.

"Lt. Alora! Scan for the vessels, and bring them up on the Holo"

"Yes Ma'am!"

Shia sat idly for a minute or so while the Lieutenant went about scanning the vessels, the Lieutenant gasped and transferred her scans to the Holo in the middle of the CIC. What Matriarch Shia T'Rosi saw made her shiver in shock.

"It's massive!... Lieutenant, how big is the lead ship?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the monster in front of her.

"...according to our scans, the lead ship is.. 20km long..." The Lieutenants voice wavered as she fell silent.

"WHAT?! That's almost half the length of the Citadel!" Shia took a few calming breaths, trying not to panic. "Can anyone tell me what they're doing.. Whoever they are?"

"Ma'am, they seem to have activated relay 314, but that's illegal!" Everyone on the CIC sputtered in rage, except, the Matriarch.

"Quiet everyone! It's obvious that whoever these people are, they aren't known to the Council. I certainly would remember a race capable of building ships like that! No, they are a new species, which logically means they don't know of our laws".

The noise levels in the CIC abated with her words, after all, none of them could refute the words of an 800 year old Matriarch.

"It's clear we have a First Contact situation on out hands. Have they detected us?"

The _Niazala's _VI popped up beside her chair. "Negative Matriarch, should I send the First Contact data burst?"

"Not just yet, first send a message to the council and apprise them of the situation" she looked over at her Navigation Officer. "Lieutenant, set a course for relay 314".

"Yes Ma'am"

Shia sat back in her chair, it was going to take at least an hour to reach the relay, so she contemplated how she was going to approach the situation. Today was turning out to be interesting.

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

Hannah sighed, the scientists were running scans on the now activated relay. She shuddered at the thought that she had to endure another 10 hours of tests before they would even send anyone through. She sighed petulantly, earning her snickers from the Bridge crew.

She glared half-heartedly at them all, then pouted.

"Don't worry Captain, just think, you're not the only one who has to suffer the meticulousness of the eggheads" said her Sensor Officer. Hannah laughed. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind Jones".

Their lightened mood ended abruptly when Loki- the _Sun Tzu's _AI appeared on the bridge looking serious.

"Captain! An unidentified vessel is closing in on our position fast, it will be within visual range momentarily", and with that everyone's attention diverted to the view screen located at the front of the room, which switched from a view of the relay to a feed from the back of the ship.

"Loki, zoom in on the approaching ship". Hannah by now had stood, and was watching the screen with nervous anticipation.

At once the image blurred, only to refocus on the most exotic vessel anyone had ever seen. Everyone gasped in shock.

"It's beautiful!" Exclaimed Jones, who was feverishly scanning the incoming ship.

"It is indeed Jones, what can you tell me from the scans?" Hannah was still staring at oddly shaped vessel coasting serenely towards her ship. Fascinated.

"We'll Ma'am, it seems to be based of Mass Effect technology, and that huge oval shaped hole is it engine. It has minimal weapons. It's emphasis seems to be on Kinetic Barriers and Sensors. My best guess would be to say that it's some sort of Science vessel Ma'am".

Hannah made a non-committal noise and turned to her Comms Officer. "Have they made any attempts to communicate?"

"Not yet Ma'am, should I send the First Contact Package?"

Hannah pondered her options for a moment before nodding. "Go ahead, but also send a message to Arcturus, I want them apprised of everything from now on".

"Yes Ma'am!" A few seconds passed. "First Contact Package away".

Hannah let out a breath, before quickly sucking on back in. 'Shit! They're not going to understand a word in the message'. "Loki! Asses they're cyber defences, I want to download their language or languages into our database, I cannot suffer hours on end of hand signals and repetition while I wait for the translator to detect a syntax".

"Acknowledged Captain, one moment if you will". Loki closed his holographic eyes for around 30 seconds before they flashed open. "Their cyber defences were extremely pathetic Captain, I have downloaded a total of 9 languages. Each from a different species as far as I can tell, I didn't want to spend to much time in their systems in case they spotted me".

"Understood Loki, thank you." Hannah smiled at the AI.

"Captain!" Hannah whirled around to her Comm Officer. "I'm receiving a large data file from the Alien vessel, it's a video file Captain".

Hannah suppressed the urge to squeal like a school girl. "Put it onscreen Lieutenant". Hannah sat back in her chair with unconcealed excitement. "Broadcast it ship-wide as well".

The entire crew of the _Sun Tzu _fell silent as an image of a blue alien, presumably female appeared onscreen.

The alien called itself an Asari, then proceeded to describe many things, like it's home planet Thessia, along with general biological information, like the average lifespan. (Here Hannah balked), 'a thousand years! I think the translator must has misinterpreted that part'.

Then after showing what their children looked like, (curiously, they all seemed to be female) they went on to explain that as a species they are mono-gendered. Which made many people on the ship sputter in shock. 'A mono-gendered species! Millions of blue females!'

Then suddenly an image of what appeared to be a space station, surrounded by a lilac coloured nebula replaced the Asari. The Asari woman decribed what her people called The Citadel, and how it serves as the centre for the Galactic community. She followed that with a short introduction to the other races of the Galaxy, like the Salarians and the Turians. The entire crew gasped at the distinctly Amphibian and Avian looking aliens respectively.

After another minute or so the video ended, leaving 50'000 humans speechless.

Hannah blinked a few times before laughing. "The guys back home are going to be so jealous! Lieutenant, can you send for my son please? I want to see his face!"

The Comms Officer quickly send a text summons for Hannah's 4 year old son John Shepard. 'He is gonna be so freakin' hyper'.

While she was waiting for her son to arrive she addressed her Comms Officer again. "Has the Alliance sent word back yet?"

"Yes Captain, they wish us luck and ask to be kept informed. Should I send the Asari message along with the language pack?" Hannah smiled at her ingenuity. "Excellent idea Lieutenant".

She turned in her seat at the sound of the automatic doors to the bridge opening, followed by small, fast paced footfalls against the floor. She smiled fondly.

"Johnny, baby what have a I told you about running on the bridge? It's dangerous". She chuckled as the small boy launched himself into her lap.

"Sorry mom, but look! Aliens! Real life aliens talking to us. I nearly wet my pants I'm so excited!" Johnny quickly flushed in embarrassment as he realised that he was overheard.

"Oops, sorry mom".

"No worries darling, wanna sit here with me while we send a message back?" The boy nodded vigorously. Hannah laughed softly before addressing her Comms Officer.

"Lieutenant, open a channel, audio only. Have it translated into Asari".

"Yes Captain, opening a channel now". Hannah waited for a cue from her Lieutenant before taking a breath and making history.

"This is Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, the _Sun Tzu._ We have received your message and I want to personally assure you that we come in peace and I hope that our people could become friends one day. If you are wondering how we have managed to understand your language, fear not. We have sophisticated translator software that enabled us to compile a syntax from your welcome message. That means, if everything works as it should that we can have a conversation in real time, while my superiors decide on my next course of action".

Matriarch Shia T'Rosi was struck dumb. 'They translated our entire language from a 10 minute video!?' She quickly shoved those thoughts aside so she could concentrate on her reply.

"Hello Captain Shepard, I must say it is a luxury to communicate with a new species so quickly. My name is Matriarch Shia T'Rosi of the Asari Science Vessel _Niazala, _I and my crew were most definitely surprised to stumble upon your ships in this system. But of course we too look forward to the day we can call each other friends".

_"I'm glad to hear that Matriarch Shia, we aren't trespassing into your space are we?"_

Shia smiled to herself. 'Well, at least they have some form of manners I can understand'

"Oh course not Captain, no one has laid claim to this system. But I must ask you to close the relay your smaller vessel opened. You would not have been aware of this so no action will be taken against you, but it is against Council Law to open inactive relays".

There was silence for around thirty seconds, and then her Sensors Officer confirmed the relay has been shut down.

_"I apologise Matriarch for unwittingly breaking your Councils law. But may I ask, why is it forbidden?"_

Shia smiled to herself again. "The main reason spans back almost 2000 years, the Salarians opened up a relay and unfortunately let loose a malevolent species known as the Rachni. The following war lasted three centuries, ever since it has become one of our highest laws to prevent any such disasters from occurring again".

_"I see, that would even make my people think twice. I shall send word back to my superiors and suggest we add it to our laws as well. Thank you for warning us"._

Shia was shocked. "You would actually recommend this action to your government after speaking for no more than five minutes?" She heard laughter on the other end of the Comm, she noted that it sounded rather serene.

_"Well yeah, if you've been around for at least two millennia I'm not going to argue with your logic. Now what do you say to a meeting, face to face. My son is practically jumping in my lap with excitement"._

The Matriarch laughed loudly. "I would love to Captain. How do you want to do this?"

_"How about you and a team of ten others come over to my ship. Your team my bring sidearms if you wish. Seeing as its standard policy for Alliance ships to have a well armed crew"._

Shias smile faltered slightly. 'Her crew is armed at all times?'

"That sounds acceptable Captain. I shall shuttle over in half an hour, T'Rosi out".

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

Hannah was waiting nervously with her son by her side, and ten marines stood in formation behind her. The Matriarchs shuttle was approaching the shuttle bay she was standing in, they had a long minute left until her arrival.

The shuttle bay was a big one, like most things on a Dreadnaught. It was around 2km long and was situated midway along the length of the ship.

As the shuttle came into view, Hannah had to suppress the urge to laugh. Like most things that came through her shuttle bay, it looked pathetically tiny. Before she came down she asked her Sensors Officer to run more detailed scans on the Asari vessel, and according to them the _Sun Tzu _could fit three of them in the shuttle bay with room to spare. It was hilarious.

The shuttle had just landed with a soft whine and a thud, it looked like a pretty tight fit for eleven people.

The shuttle doors opened and slid down the side of the craft, shortly followed by ten Asari in black armour. They looked serious.

'They must be the equivalent of our marines. I wonder what they call them?'

Hannah refocused her attention on the lone figure that followed the ten Asari before her; she was nowhere near as intimidating. The Matriarch was wearing a form fitting lilac dress of an exotic style, which showed flashes of skin around her back and midriff.

'They clearly play on their looks as a species. She is very beautiful'

The group of Asari walked forward, the ones with the guns never quite relaxing. They stopped five feet away from Hannah and parted to allow their Matriarch to step forward. Hannah smiled warmly at her, extending her hand in greeting.

"I'm glad to see you made it over here without any problems Matriarch. Welcome to the _Sun Tzu_".

The Matriarch looked at Hannah's offered hand in confusion, before looking back at Hannah with a question in her eyes.

"Apologies, this is a Human greeting. It's called a handshake". Slowly, Shia extended her own hand and grasped Hannah's in a light grip. The Captain gave it a few soft shakes before letting go.

"Oh I see! What an interesting greeting, it's very similar to the Salarian version". She smiled at Hannah before continuing. "Thank you for allowing us aboard your ship Captain, and I must say, when we first saw scans of your vessel we were all pretty struck dumb". She ended with a laugh in her voice.

Hannah frowned. "Is it unusual to see a ship like this?"

"Not the design per se, even though that in itself is pretty unique, but we were shocked at how large it is! It is easily the largest ship known to the council races".

That made Hannah gape like a fish. 'Surely not?'

"Really? Wow, now that is an ego boost if I ever saw one. Oh! Matriarch, I would like you to meet my son, Johnny". Hannah bent down and scooped up her son who had come over all shy since he saw the shuttle land.

"Johnny, baby. This is Matriarch Shia T'Rosi, aren't you gonna say hi?"

The small boy lifted his head away from his mother's chest and smiled shyly at Shia. "Hey, why are you blue?"

Hannah sputtered. "Johnny! You can't just go and ask why people are blue?!"

"Worry not Captain, I take no offence". She laughed lightly then spoke to Johnny. "Well hello there Johnny, my name is Shia T'Rosi. But just called me Shia, ok?" Johnny nodded. "Great! And in answer to your question, I'm blue because all Asari are blue. We were born like this. Just how you were born the colour you are".

Johnny smiled in comprehension. "Cool!"

Hannah laughed and decided to move things forward slightly.

"Well enough of the pleasantries, would you care for a tour of the ship? Obviously we won't be able to see everything because of its sheer size. But I can gladly show you the bridge?"

"I would love to captain, I must admit, if this is your shuttle bay I can't wait to see the rest of your ship! Lead on!"

Hannah laughed and motioned for the Matriarch the walk beside her, with Johnny on her other side. Today was turning out to be a fantastic day.

**Arcturus System: Arcturus Station: 2157**

Admiral Hackett was giddy, for the first time since he was a child.

One of his Captains had stumbled into a First Contact situation, and by all reports it was going swimmingly. 'I never would have thought that something like this would happen in my lifetime'.

He had given permission for a tour of the Dreadnaught, but only on the condition that they are under light guard along the way and to keep the existence of their AI a secret. He had seen the riots that occurred when the announcement of the first VI gaining sentience aired on international news almost 30 years ago. They couldn't afford the same reaction from the Asari until they could gauge their views on Artificial Intelligence.

For now he had to sit and wait. And hope nothing went wrong.

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

Shia was astounded, they were on the bridge of the _Sun Tzu, _waiting for the Captain to summon an elevator to main engineering.

'This ship is ridiculous! They have so much space yet somehow they manage not to waste any of it'. She looked down at Johnny, who had quickly grown attached to her and was clinging to her hand. She smiled to herself. "He is absolutely adorable, it's not often we Asari get to see a male child'.

She was broke from her musings by the arrival of the elevator. She, the Captain and Johnny, followed by all twenty of their retinue piled in to the large space.

"Main Engineering!" barked Captain Shepard, there was a small chime followed by a pulling sensation. Shia turned to the Captain.

"How long does it take to get to Engineering Captain? Most of the elevators on the Citadel run rather slow" she tried to maintain her childlike curiosity, but the Captain just smiled at her knowingly, letting her know shed failed.

"Well let's just say that without their very own inertial dampeners, we would all be crushing into the front wall right about now". She chuckled at Shia slack jawed expression.

"That's impressive," mumbled one of the Commandos. Shia let loose a relaxed laugh.

"Oh Captain, this is the start of a beautiful friendship".

Hannah was bewildered, not only was her ship supposedly the biggest in the known Galaxy, but she also had faster elevators than the Galactic hub?

'I hate to say it but, they sound so... Primitive, at least technologically'.

By now the elevator had arrived at Main Engineering and Hannah found herself with a smug smiled plastered on her face, it seemed as if the Council hadn't even heard of Hyperdrive technology.

"Captain, what is this technology? It looks nothing like a Mass Effect core" Shias eyes were virtually glowing with unadulterated passion. Hannah's smile grew.

"That's because it isn't, we invented this technology accidentally over a century ago. By the time we stumbled upon the Mass relay in our system we had developed it enough that we had surpassed it. We call this engine a Hyperdrive Engine, it allows us to literally tunnel into subspace and move at incredible speeds. When the science team that created this particular model performed the shakedown run, it took eight days to cross the Galaxy and back". She smiled proudly at the eleven faces staring back in shock.

"Eight days... You're not joking are you?" Hannah thought that Shia was about to faint.

"Nope, of course only our larger ships have this type of hyperdrive, it would take our smaller military and commercial ships about a month".

The Matriarch laughed a little hysterically at that piece of information. "If I may ask, how many ships do you have in your fleet? You make it sound like quite a few".

Hannah chuckled. "At my last count, which was about a month ago. We have 60 Dreadnaughts, 100 Hospital ships, 60 Carriers, 1000 cruisers, 2500 Freighters, 10'000 Frigates and if my calculations are correct, about 600'000 fighters and bombers".

Hannah wasn't telling the whole truth of course, she didn't think that Admiral Hackett would appreciate her airing his military laundry out for everyone to see. She had only mentioned around half the numbers of each class of ship.

The Matriarch and her guard were growing paler by the second. So much so that Hannah was starting to worry.

"Is everything alright Matriarch, I hope you aren't worried by the sheer size of our military. I can promise you we aren't a warlike people; we just follow a certain policy. 'Prepare for any and all eventualities'".

The Asari woman smiled at her faintly. "Don't mind us Captain, it's just that beyond the Turians, the other races don't have such large fleets. But I do have another question, why is it, if you have run tests for all these ships from different points in the Galaxy, has no one met you sooner?".

Hannah chuckled softly. "Well Matriarch, it's simple really. As a people, we haven't really been looking towards expansion. We only have our home world and two other colonies. As for not being spotted, well when we are in hyperspace. We are literally undetectable; subspace interferes with any scans whatsoever. But communications are unaffected".

"Interesting, well Captain. I think it's time me and my retinue headed back to my ship, I have some very exciting conversations to look forward to with my superiors, as do you I should imagine?".

Hannah nodded and picked up Johnny, who was falling asleep at her feet. "Forgive me if I don't see you to your shuttle Matriarch, it seems my son has crashed after all the excitement".

The Matriarch laughed quietly, reaching out to run her fingers through Johnnys hair. "Think nothing of it Captain, my ship will stay in the system while I speak with my superiors and I shall be in touch as soon as I am finished. Hopefully we can arrange a meeting with the Asari republics and discuss trade agreements and an introduction to the other Council species". She bowed slightly in farewell and followed Hannah's marines to the elevator.

Hannah smiled to herself. 'I am so the most famous woman in Human history right now! Yes!'

**Arcturus System: Arcturus Station: 2157**

"What have you got for me Captain?" Asked Admiral Hackett over video call to the _Sun Tzu_.

"Well sir, they seem to base most of their technology of Element Zero like the tech we found in the Mars Cache, including their drive core".

That stumped him. "Oh really? What about long distance travel, have they found a way to travel faster than light without using the relays?"

At his question the Captains voice took on smugness to it. "That's the thing Admiral, the fastest they can go without the relays is virtually a snails pace. It would take the Matriarchs ship around a week to travel from Eden Prime to Shanxi, that's including using a minor relay jump".

"But haven't they been spacefaring for more than two millennia?"

"Yessir, but from what I gathered, they just don't seem all that bothered with advancement. They seem pretty content with the level that their ships are at".

This didn't sit right with the Admiral. 'Whats the point of technology if you aren't going to improve upon it?'

"Well, here comes the $64'000 question; what did they think of our engines and ships?"

Hackett just had to smile at the look of pride plastered across his favourite Captains face.

"When I started talking about our travel capabilities I think the Matriarch was about to faint! She literally had to brace herself when she heard the supposed numbers of our fleet. Apparently, only the Turians who are the peacekeepers of the Council have a fleet anywhere near that size. I neglected to mention that the numbers were somewhere near half of what they truly are".

"I've gotta hand it to you Captain, you know how to sell our side".

"Thank you sir"

Hackett decided to question her on the debate that was currently taking place at Parliament, he could use her opinion.

"Captain, what are you views on what type of relationship we should explore with them?"

The Captain adopted a thoughtful expression for a few moments for she spoke.

"I think their offer of friendship is genuine, and despite the fact that we outstrip them technologically, we still could gain a lot through trade. Not to mention the cultural exchange opportunities". She tapped her chin with her finger. "I think we should offer them an embassy on Earth, I'm not to sure I like the idea of the Council, they seem very... bureaucratic. There is definitely going to be issues with our Military fleet with the Council, judging by the Matriarchs face".

Hackett took all this in and found himself agreeing. "I agree completely, I shall put forward your recommendation. And as your were the one the meet them, your opinion will carry a lot of weight". He placed his fingers together and pondered his next question.

"What can you tell me about the Asari themselves?"

"Well sir, their Governmental system is in the form of Republics. Each planet is a single Republic, as for them Asari themselves... They are mono-gendered, as you saw in the video file. We are as of yet unsure how they reproduce, I am taking a guess and saying they reproduce Asexually. They have extremely long lifespans, the oldest known Asari to have ever lived reached 1235 years of age-"

"WHAT!?" Hackett was shocked to say the least.

"That was exactly my reaction sir. In fact the Matriarch herself is celebrating her 812 birthday next month". She laughed lightly at Hacketts slack jawed face.

Never in his 51 years had Steven Hackett been rendered speechless, and now, in the space of a five minute conversation, he had been shocked into silence twice.

"Sir! I have to go, I'm receiving a hail from the _Niazala_".

"Alright Captain, contact me when you can. Hackett out".

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

_"Well Captain, my superiors are delighted to know that our first contact went so well. They wanted me to ask you if you could send a copy of your languages to me so we could translate your First Contact Package across the Asari Republics. My linguist is still salivating over the prospect of meeting a species with so many dialects"._

Hannah frowned slightly. "Of course Matriarch, I'll send it now" she signalled her Comms Officer to send the file. "May I ask, is it so peculiar for a species to have many dialects?"

_"Not really, every species we've encountered has more than one dialect. But you Humans have at least ten, if we're to go by the video"._

The Captain smiled sheepishly. "Actually Matriarch, they were just the main ones. We have closer to 200 official dialects on Earth". Hannah heard an exclamation of joy from the Asari vessel. 'I bet that's the linguist'.

_"My word Captain, your species sure is full of surprises. Now on to business, my Government thought it would be best if we let you decide the next move. We didn't want to overwhelm you by dragging you to the Citadel in front of all the Council races"._

Hannah let out a breath she didn't realise she was even holding. "That would be preferable Matriarch, I admit everyone back home is a little nervous about meeting another species. Never mind more than one at once. My government has given me the glorious task of informing you that, if your leaders agree that is, to open up on Embassy on Earth, and also if your leaders agree, to start trade negotiations also". She took a breath to steady herself.

"Make no mistake we are a harbouring a little trepidation about joining a Council, so we want to take things slowly. And of course we want to show off our home world".

It was silent for a few moments before the Matriarch replied. _"My Government finds your offer more than satisfactory Captain! In fact they are ecstatic! They have given me permission to follow your lead on the proceedings"._

"Excellent, my superiors were wondering if you and your crew wanted to act as an advance party, so the people of Earth can get used to the idea of Aliens before the Embassy itself is opened?"

_"That would be wonderful Captain! Listen to me, I sound like an over excited teenager!"_

Hannah smiled. 'Now to really knock their socks off'

"Brilliant! Now because we are rather impatient for you to see Earth we are going to travel via hyperspace. Do not worry about using the relays, we are capable of extending our hyperdrive field around your ship and pull you along with us".

There was silence for a minute or two._ "That is acceptable Captain. Is there anything specific you need us to do?"_

Hannah laughed; she could practically smell the other woman's nervousness. "If you could shut down your engines, that would be a great help. You may keep your drive core online though, but please keep it to its minimal output".

_"Acknowledged Captain, standby" _It took five minutes before she spoke again.

_"All set Captain, you may proceed"._

"Awesome! I suggest you look out of a window or something, travelling through Hyperspace never gets old".

And with that she ended communications and addressed the bridge crew. "Prepare for hyperspace jump, set course for Earth. Helmsman! Bring us above the _Niazala_, try not to be to intimidating about it either"

Around her was a chorus of "Yes Ma'am!"

"Good, have we arrived above their vessel?" She received an affirmative from her Navigations Officer. "Alright then, Bridge to Engineering"

_"Yes Captain?"_

"Extend our hyperdrive field around the _Niazala_, once you have her secured engage the hyperdrive"

_"Yes Ma'am, jumping to hyperspace"._

**En Route to Earth: Asari Science Vessel Niazala: 2157**

"By the Goddess"

Shia could not believe her eyes; she had never seen anything more beautiful.

The pulsing purples and blues of hyperspace were hypnotising, never in her 800 years had she been so entranced. The Citadel couldn't even hold a candle to this sight, she was humbled to be able to witness it.

According to Captain Shepard they would arrive in the Sol System in fifteen minutes, she was ecstatic and dismayed at the same time. Her mind boggled at the thought that she would be travelling so fast, yet at the same time wanted to stay tunnelling through subspace for the rest of her life.

The rest of the crew were in similar predicaments, staring out of the nearest windows or watching screens that were broadcasting the visual data of the journey.

All to soon the colours shifted and wavered, and the two ships vaulted themselves out, back into normal space. What Shia saw caused her to catch her breath in awe.

They had arrived over a Garden World, it was around about the same size as Thessia, but the colours were all different. Before she had time to muse on her thoughts however, she was hailed by the _Sun Tzu._

_"Matriarch Shia, I bid you welcome to Earth on behalf of the Systems Alliance"._

"Thank you Captain! Your world is gorgeous, may I ask, what is the procedure from now on?"

_"A frigate will collect you and the same guard as before momentarily, they shall dock and take you down to the surface. I shall meet you there". _

"Excellent Captain, I look forward to seeing you again". She ended to connection and summoned her guard, requesting that they meet her at the main airlock.

**Sol System: Earth: 2157**

Shia was rapidly becoming overwhelmed; the ride in the frigate had been quick and silent.

Now she was standing opposite Captain Shepard and the current leader of the Systems Alliance, a man called Admiral Steven Hackett. She smiled at Shepard.

"I bring greetings from the Asari Republics, along with a wish that our people may one day be close friends and allies" she hated the formal nature of these greetings, she just wanted to run up to the Humans and hug the crap out of them. Hackett was the first to speak.

"Welcome to Earth Matriarch Shia, we too hope to one day be friends and allies, but first, please accept this small gift as a token of respect and to the hope of further relations between our people's".

Shia was shocked to find herself humbled once again. She threw a questioning look at the Admiral as he handed her a data chip of some kind. "Thank you, may I ask what this is?"

The admiral let out a hearty laugh that sent warm shivers through her body. 'These people have the most amazing laughs'.

"My Captain told me of your linguists desire to learn about the many dialects spoken on Earth" he pointed to the chip in her hands "well that chip contains every current and past dialect from the past five centuries, along with poetry samples from the ten main ones".

"By the Goddess Admiral this is a spectacular gift! My linguist may have found her new favourite person in the Galaxy!" She laughed loudly and tucked the chip into a concealed pocket within her dress.

"That's wonderful! I hope she enjoys studying everything on there!" He smiled widely, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. "Now then, this is the part where I give you a tour of some of the more interesting places on Earth, both natural and man made" he extended his arm "care to join me?" He winked at her jovially.

Shia found herself blushing at his actions. 'These humans are more charismatic than we Asari! By the Goddess the Council Races won't know what hit them!'

She took the offered arm and proceeded to walk with the Admiral. "So where are you taking me first Admiral?"

"I was thinking perhaps a short shuttle ride to see the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay, it was constructed around 220 years ago".

"Excellent! Lead the way Admiral"

**Sol System: Asari Science Vessel Niazala: 2157**

Matriarch Shia T'Rosi was exhausted, she has spent the past two weeks touring the planet with Admiral Hackett and Captain Shepard. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

The only reason she hadn't retired to her quarters was because she was expecting a hail from the Asari Government on Thessia, they were due to call any minute now.

A bleeping at the Comms console roused her slightly. The Comms Officer opened a channel and brought up a holographic image of Matriarch Aethyta.

_"Well?" _She asked, impatient as usual.

"They are extremely impressive as a species Aethyta, their technology is way beyond us".

_"Really? Well fuck me sideways, what's their planet like?"_

Shia smiled at her colleague's crass manner. "It's beautiful, their sky is a pale blue and most of their plant life is green! Two thirds of the planet is covered by the Ocean and their population is insane!"

_"How so? They aren't overcrowded are they?"_

_"_No, no far from it. Their population currently stands at around 15 billion, but they don't suffer from pollution or overcrowding, in fact, they could probably support another five billion before they start to struggle".

_"YOU'VE GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! That's more than the Salarians! How fast do these Humans breed?" _

Shia rolled her eyes at Aethytas reaction and explained. "They are similar to us when it comes to pregnancy, they usually only give birth to a single child at a time, but there have been multiple cases over the centuries of quadruplets, or even more. But they are rare. As for their living situations, most of the population live in massive, completely self sustaining cities that on average house around 60 million people".

This time there was no crude response from the other Asari. Just silence for a few minutes, while she absorbed the new information. Then she asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

_"What about their fleet?"_

Shia swallowed subconsciously. "It's massive. It makes the Turian Fleet look like a Volus Bombing Squad. Their method of FTL is vastly superior, and from what little scans we could get from their weapons, they could easily blow a world the size of Palaven into space dust". She shuddered at the thought of the Turians home world being obliterated.

_"By the fucking Goddess! WHO EVEN NEEDS THAT MUCH FIREPOWER?! What about the number of ships?"_

Shia braced herself for the shouting that was bound to follow her words. "They don't have as many ships compared to the Turians, but the size of their Dreadnaughts are ridiculous! 20km long! The shuttle bay on Captain Shepards ship could hold at least three of my vessels alongside each other! It's insane! I would not want to piss them off that's for sure!"

_"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! 20KM! HOW DOES IT EVEN MOVE WITHOUT MASS EFFECT ENGINES THE SIZE OF THE CITADEL?!" _

'Shes hyperventilating, she's gonna flip her lid when she hears the next part'.

"Well actually, they don't use Mass Effect technology at all. They say its inferior to their current level of tech. They use something called a hyperdrive to traverse the Galaxy, what would have taken us three days by relay travel took us 15 minutes, apparently they can cross the Galaxy and back in eight days! I almost fainted when Captain Shepard told me, and I sensed nothing but the truth in her words!"

Suddenly there was a quiet exclamation of _"fuck me" _before Aethyta passed out. An acolyte, who severed the connection without another word, quickly picked her up.

**Athena System: Thessia: 2157**

Aethyta was feeling her age as she woke up.

"What the fuck happened?" She asked herself, she almost jumped out of her skin when an acolyte responded.

"You passed out Matriarch, I believe the information about the Humans was a little overwhelming" she held out a glass of water silently.

Aethyta took the offered glass. "Thanks kid, I need to be alone for a while to gather my thoughts, I'll call you if I need you"

"Of course Matriarch" and with that she left the room.

'This is ludicrous, how can they have amassed so much power and advanced technology without us knowing about it? Better yet, how the fuck did they manage all this without element zero?' She sighed and drank deeply from the glass, relishing in the water.

'Its obvious that having them as allies would be beneficial, but according to Shia, they don't want to be part of the Council. At least not yet anyways, which I can kinda understand, Tevos can be a right stuck up bitch'.

She scratched her wrist absentmindedly. 'So they want to ally themselves with the Asari for now. Well that puts us at an advantage, and the other races can't say shit about us hogging the newcomers because it's the newcomers that want to hog us! This is great! That will show the Turians a thing or two... And it also means that when they do want to introduce themselves to everyone else, they will turn to us as a mediator... Yeah, I can see many positive things about an alliance. And we haven't even discussed trade opportunities yet!'

Aethyta smiled to herself. She was already putting an Ambassadorial team together in her mind, including a certain Archeologist.

**Sol System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2157**

Hannah Shepard was exicted. She was positioned 10'000km away from the Charon relay, waiting for the Asari Ambassadorial ship to emerge from the other side. It had been a month since the _Niazala _had returned to Thessia and she was beginning to miss Asari company.

'I wonder who they're sending?'. Her musings were cut short when the relays rings started to spin faster.

"Captain! Incoming vessel!"

No sooner had the words left her Lieutenants mouth when a 1km ship, wider than it was long, like the _Niazala_ sprung forth from the relay. It stopped around 8000km from the _Sun Tzu_.

"Hail them, audio and visual". She waited until the view screen showed the image on an Asari.

"Welcome to the Sol System, I'm Captain Hannah Shepard of the _Sun Tzu_. To who, am I speaking?"

The Asari on the view screen smiled a broad smile before replying. _"Thanks for the welcome Captain, my name is Matriarch Aethyta of the Asari Ambassadorial ship T'Soni"_

Hannah smiled back, this Matriarch had a more informal attitude then Shia. She liked her already.

"It's nice to meet you Matriarch, if you would be so kind as to manoeuvre your vessel underneath mine, so we can transport you to Earth".

Aethyta looked confused for a moment before she commanded her pilot to follow the instructions. A few moments later they we hurtling towards Earth at maximum sublight, it took around 3 minutes.

The Captain reestablished the connection to the _T'Soni_. "Matriarch, is your ship capable of landing on the surface?"

_"I'm afraid not Captain, my ship is too large". _She looked a little frustrated with herself when she said that, making Hannah chuckle.

"No matter, I can scoop your ship up in my shuttle bay. It should make for a grander entrance, don't you think?"

The Matriarch could only nod dumbly as the Dreadnaughts shuttle bay swallowed her ship.

"If you could meet me outside your ship we can walk out through the Cargo Bay. I shall see you in a few minutes Matriarch. Shepard out". She signalled for the connection to be severed. 'Oh her face was priceless!'

Five minutes later she was shaking hands with a bouncing Matriarch who had abandoned all etiquette.

"Captain this ship is fucking fantastic! I mean look at the size of your shuttle bay! It fits my ship inside easily!" She bounced from foot to foot like a child, it was very endearing.

"Thank you Matriarch, I'm glad you like it" she smiled benignly.

"Please call me Aethyta! You've earned it by allowing me on this beast!"

Hannah laughed. "Alright then Aethyta, call me Hannah". She laughed again, "Now, lets get to the cargo bay, we need to take an elevator".

She quickly escorted Aethyta and the rest of the Ambassadorial team to the Cargo Bay, all the while the Matriarch was asking question after question. She answered them with pride.

As they were making their way to the cargo bay, the _Sun Tzu_ was descending through Earths atmosphere, even though it was too large to actually land on the planets surface. It's anti-gravity field could suspend it easily just above the ground, perfect height for the cargo bay ramp the lower to the ground.

While they were waiting for the door to lower Hannah spoke to the Ambassadorial team as a whole.

"Now, while we're waiting for the ramp to lower, I shall fill you in on the basics of what's about to happen. We have descended to the city of San Francisco, where your Embassy building is located. You've got a building with a view people, and I envy you!" She heard a few laughs from the Asari. "We will be walking to the Embassy as I've had the pilot park us virtually on your front doorstep, while we walk you're going to be hounded by the press from every nation on Earth. I trust you all have Earths languages installed into your translator software?" She received nods and other affirmative responses. "Excellent! Shall we make some history then ladies?"

She turned to walk down the ramp, closely followed by 30 eager Asari. She stopped as she reached the bottom and turned back.

"Welcome to Earth".

Liara T'Soni was gobsmacked; she couldn't stop her eyes from roaming while she walked towards the Asari Embassy. She was beyond excited.

A human male grabbed her attention to her left. 'He must be from the press, I guess there's no harm in answering a few questions, Matriarch Aethyta is having a blast'. She walked over slowly, not wanting to seem to eager and childlike, she was almost 80 after all.

"Hi there I'm Roger Smith for the BBC, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?" He motioned to a floating camera setup behind him.

"Of course, I'm Liara T'Soni. What would you like to know?" She smiled sweetly at him.

"Nice to meet you Liara, I was wondering, what is your role within the soon to be Asari Embassy?"

Liara smiled again. 'Just keep smiling, don't let them see any fear. All reporters are the same'. "I am the foremost expert in Prothean Archeology, I have been sent here to study Earths history and Cultures, which I've heard you have an abundance of".

"Interesting! How long have you been an Archeologist Liara?"

"Around about 30 years, I started straight out of University". Roger smiled a beaming smile.

"That's wonderful! Just on more quick question and I'll let you go. What are your first impressions of Humanity, through your teams interactions with Captain Shepard, and your arrival to San Fransisco?"

Liara panicked for a moment. 'First impressions?! I've been here all of five minutes!'

"Well from what I've seen so far, you all seem to be a very kind race, with some very beautiful architecture" she pointed to the Golden Gate Bridge. "Beyond that there's really too much to say at the moment".

"No worries Liara, thanks for you time". And with that he stepped back and Liara continued walking towards the Embassy, feeling that the interview went quite well.

**En Route to Thessia: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2158**

It had been seven months since the opening of the Asari Embassy on Earth and since then tentative trade routes have been put in place. With the first shipment being food, ever since they discovered that Asari food was compatible with their digestive systems and vice versa. The first trade vessel arrived a month ago, laden with Asari dietary staples that were considered a delicacy by the people of Earth.

Captain Hannah Shepard was travelling to Thessia on a two-stroke mission. First of all she was delivering the first batch of food as per their trade agreement with the Asari, she was also dropping off the Human Embassy Team to Thessia's capital city.

"Captain, we're about to drop out of Hyperspace".

"Acknowledged, once we drop out, take us toward Thessia at half sublight. We don't want to surprise them into firing upon us".

"Yes Captain!"

Hannah straightened up in her seat, and asked her Comms Officer to prepare to receive a hail from the surface. And sure enough 5 minutes later, they received a hail from the Asari Govenrment.

"Human vessel, we ask you to come to a full stop while we verify your presence in this system". Hannah blinked at the briskness of the Asari's tone. 'They were supposed to be expecting us'.

Hannah signalled for her Navigations Officer to bring the ship to a complete stop. Two minutes later another hail, this time visual rang through the bridge.

"Put it on screen Lieutenant".

"Yes Captain" came the reply.

_"Ah Captain Shepard, my apologies for the formality of your greeting to Thessia, please understand. This system is heavily controlled against smuggling, sometimes we can get a little to serious"._ The woman speaking was an Asari whose skin was dark blue.

"No worries, to whom am I speaking?" The Asari chuckled lightly.

_"Apologies Captain, my name is Matriarch Benezia. Welcome to Thessia"._

**Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2158**

It had been almost a year since Captain Hannah Shepard had stumbled into a First Contact Situation with the Asari, and things were looking great for the two allies. Trade had extended from food out towards clothing and other commercial goods. Both embassies were reporting excellent progress towards bettering their people's relationship.

But for Hannah, things were once again boring. She was stuck back in the Shanxi System doing a routine patrol.

She had been out here with her crew for three weeks and the strain was beginning to show. She was about to end her shift and hand her chair over to her XO, when an all too familiar alarm sounded.

"Captain I am detecting a massive fleet of ships emerging from FTL at the edge of the system". Chimed Loki, the ships AI.

"Can you identify them? Are they Asari?" She wasn't expecting much, due to the Asari using the relay to get to Earth.

"Negative on both fronts Captain. The ships are of an unrecognised configuration".

That made Hannah sit up straight in her seat. "I want more detailed scans, how many ships are there?" She waited patiently, but noticed it was taking Loki longer than usual to run the scans.

"Apologies for the delay Captain, at present count there are just over 30'000 ships and that number is still rising".

"WHAT?! THIRTY THOUSAND SHIPS?!"

"Yes Captain".

Hannah calmed herself before she passed out. "Identify the lead ship and bring up a visual, then I want you to try and download their language, but as with the Asari, be careful. I don't want you to be detected". Loki gave her a mild glare in repsonse.

'Cheeky shit of an AI'

"Captain, I have managed to download their language. Please note that their cyber defences were considerably more sophisticated than the Asari. But nothing I couldn't handle".

Hannah laughed loudly. "Is that pride I hear Loki?"

He grinned in response. "Of course Ma'am"

"Alright then, I want you to prepare the First Contact Package if you will. And translate it all into their language". Helmsman! Take us to the lead ship at half sublight".

"Yes Captain!"

The Captain sat back and waited for the next five minutes, feeling just as nervous as she was when she encountered the Asari. She couldn't help but wonder which of the species they would be meeting now. 'Hopefully they aren't hostile'.

Her Helmsman alerted her that they had come to a stop 100'00km opposite the massive fleet of ships. Loki brought an image up from the frontal imaging sensors.

Hannah's jaw dropped.

On her view screen was the image of 50'000 ships. All of them different shapes and sizes.

She quickly burst into action. "Loki, hail the lead ship and send the First Contact Package. Lieutenant, scan them for weapons and defences and anything you think might be useful. Tactical! Be ready to raise shields..."

There was a chorus of "Yes Captain!" Then silence.

"FCP away Captain" said Loki, before he dissolved back into nothingness.

Shanxi-Theta System: Quarian Flotilla Liveship Rayya: 2158

Admiral Raan was having a bad day, first the _Rayya's _engines almost gave out. Then she had to delegate a squabble between two other ships.

And to top it all off, the fleet had just exited FTL and come face to face with a behemoth of a warship.

'And we have no idea who it belongs to! For all we know it could be a completely new species! Keelah!'

"Admiral! The unknown vessel is hailing us! They're sending a large data file, audio and video".

Raan gasped. 'First Contact?' "Put it onscreen, broadcast to all ships in the fleet!".

What followed was ten minutes of silence as a new species introduced itself, showing videos and images of a people who except for their skin colour and hair could have been Asari.

The video comprised of a male and female giving general background information of their species and where they came from. Followed by introductions by people that looked slightly different, possibly from different planets within their borders. The Quarians were too shocked to take a guess.

Once the video had finished, Admiral Shala Raan burst into movement. "Send the First Contact Data file! Now!"

Shanxi-Theta System: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2158

Hannah perked up when a reply to their initial transmission came through. "Loki, is their language running through the translation matrix?"

"It is Captain" Hannah smiled. "Good, play the file".

For the next twenty minutes the Humans aboard the _Sun Tzu_ were witnesses to a story of loneliness and sadness. Along with the basic biological background of their people (which was bad enough in Hannah's opinion), the Quarians have been nomads for three centuries after they were driven from their Homeworld by their synthetic creations.

'It looks like they won't be to pleased if they see we use AI then'.

After the file had finished Hannah turned to her Sensors Officer. "What is the status of their ships?" She grimaced at the look her officer gave her.

"Bad Captain, they might as well be holding themselves together with mud and spit! Most of their vessels are at least three hundred years old".

The Captain blanched. "Three centuries? Wow they must know their way around tech to keep those old birds in the air!" She thought on her feet for a moment. "Contact Admiral Hackett, apprise him of our situation. Loki! Open a channel to the lead ship. I think it's time we introduced ourselves properly".

"Yes Captain!" Rang out from various points across the bridge.

A few moments later with Loki hidden from view, an image of a woman (the suit design was distinctly female) appeared sat between two others. Hannah addressed the woman.

"Hello, my name is Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, the _Sun Tzu. _To whom am I speaking?"

_"My name is Admiral Shala Raan nar Rayya vas Tonbay... How is it you are speaking Keelish?" _

'Keelish must be the name for their language...'

"Apologies Admiral, I should have informed you. My people have very sophisticated translator software, it analysed your First Contact Date File and decoded your syntax. It definitely makes things easier, don't you agree?" She smiled warmly at the Admiral, trying to relieve the tension she felt.

The Admiral was silent for a few moments before she spoke again, in a much lighter tone. _"Well that is fascinating to know! And I must compliment you and your ship Captain, she is most magnificent!" _

Hannah preened proudly at the Admirals praise, she was proud of her ship. "Thank you Admiral. Speaking of ships, I had my crew run a few scans of your fleet and we noticed that it isn't in the best condition. Are you in need of any assistance or repairs?"

This clearly shocked the Admiral, along with the two other Quarians visible. 'Shit! I hope I didn't offend them...'

"Apologies Admiral, I didn't mean to cause offen-" she was cut of by the Admirals wavering voice.

_"No, no Captain! You misinterpret our silence, we are simply shocked that your would extend help to a people you hardly know!" _Her voice sounded suspiciously emotional. Hannah was intrigued.

"It's what any decent Captain would do for fellow travellers in need. Think nothing of it".

_"You are most kind Captain, we could indeed use some assistance. What are you willing to offer?" _The Admirals voice held a hint of hope. It stirred something angry inside Hannah's stomach. 'She makes it sound like no one has ever offered to help them before!'

"Send forth your ships that are in dire need of any repairs critical to its function. And if you can tell me your amino-acids base, I can have rations synthesised to feed as many people as you need".

After the Asari explained that not all species have the same amino acids base, the Alliance R and D labs invented a protein resequencer, in preparation to meet and trade with the Turians mostly.

_"You would expend that many resources on us?! Keelah, I can't accept so much Captain. What about your ship?"_

Hannah sighed. "Admiral, please accept the help I am more than willing to provide. I can see your fleet is in pretty bad shape, and I can't in good conscience leave your people as they are". She chuckled lightly. "You will soon learn that I am one of the more stubborn Humans".

The Admiral turned to deliberate with the people at her sides in low tones for a minute or two before turning back to the screen.

_"We the Quarian people will gladly accept any help you can provide". _

"Awesome! If you can send over the ships that are in the worst shape I can see about fabricating parts and hull panels for you! Now are you levo or dextro based?"

_"We are Dextro based Captain. Will that cause you any problems?" _

Hannah smiled. "None at all! We can have 10'000tonnes synthesised within the hour, will that be enough?"

_"My word Captain that's more than enough! You have my thanks once again"._

The Captain laughed. "Admiral, like I said. Think nothing of it. Now, I have just received word from my Government, and they are quite eager to meet you. Once everything is fabricated and synthesised, what do you say to a trip to Earth? I have another ship on its way to guard you while your fleet conducts any repairs, you and anyone you wish to bring can come with me in my ship".

_"That sounds like a wonderful idea. How far away is your world, I would hate to leave the fleet without its leadership". _

Hannah smiled again, this time because the Quarians, just like the Asari ran their ship on Mass Effect technology. 'This is going to be fun'.

"It's about 12'000 light years from here, but not to worry. Our method of travel is superior to your average FTL drive. It will take roughly fifteen minutes to arrive at the Sol System".

_"What?! How can you travel so fast without the aid of the relays? Especially with a ship so large!" _The Admiral was on her feet now, clearly indignant.

"If you want you can come over now and I can show you our Engineering deck?" The Admiral nodded absently "you may bring the rest of your leadership and two guards for each. Is that acceptable to you?"

_"It is more than acceptable Captain, we shall be arriving in two shuttles in half an hour. Raan out". _

The display blinked out with the ending of the connection. Hannah sunk into her chair limply. 'Im getting too old for this... And I'm not even thirty! Madness'

"Can someone please get me a black coffee, I think I might fall asleep before the Admiral gets here without one".

En Route to the Sun Tzu: Quarian Shuttle: 2158

"Keelah that ship is massive!" Exclaimed Raan as they approached the Dreadnaught, silence pervaded both shuttle as the behemoth vessel cast an ominous shadow across them.

"I can't wait to see the Engine room! And imagine the Weapons on that monster, our scans were reflected right back at us!" Shouted Admiral Xen. The Fleets top scientist.

"Xen you will restrain yourself unless invited to take a closer look, we don't want to offend these Humans. They could easily obliterate our entire fleet before our engines started back up!" Chastised Admiral Zaal'Koris.

All conversation ceased as both shuttles entered the gigantic shuttle bay of the _Sun Tzu_.

None of the Admirals, nor their guards could wrap their heads around the sheer size of the space surrounding them, it was beyond their comprehension at this time. After a moment both shuttles touched the floor of the shuttle bay with a soft thud and the doors automatically opened.

They were greeted with a small group of humans, led by Captain Shepard, who was holding the hand of a child. Presumably her son.

Hannah was once again introducing her son to an alien species, he was taking it all in his stride. After all, once you start seeing Asari on a semi regular basis, nothing seems to phase a child's mindset after that.

"Welcome aboard the _Sun Tzu_ Admiral. I'd like to introduce you to my son, Johnny. Johnny, this is Admiral Shala Raan. She is a Quarian, say hi for me sweetie!"

Johnny wasnt as shy this time round, but the Quarians suits scared him a little. "Hi! I like your suits! Why are you wearing them? Do you breath ammonia or something?"

Again Hannah found herself mentally face palming at her sons crassness. The Admiral on the other hand seemed to find him hilarious.

"No young Johnny, we breath Oxygen like you do, but if we don't wear these suits we can get very sick". Raan replied, mirth lacing her voice.

"Oh... Being sick isn't nice". Johnny soon fell silent. And the Admirals stepped forward.

"Captain allow me to introduce the rest of the Admiralty Board. Admiral Han Gerrel of the Heavy Fleet, Admiral Daro Xen of the Patrol Fleet and Admiral Zaal'Koris of the Civilian Fleet". She pointed to each Admiral as she spoke, and Hannah grasped hands politely with each of them.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way how about I show the Engine room like I promised?" Hannah noticed that Xen perked up considerably on hearing her words and she smiled to herself. "If you follow me we have an elevator ride to take".

She laughed when the Admirals let out small sighs in dismay. "Don't sound so glum, they're quite fast. They need to be to be of any use on a ship this size!" The Admirals shared a laugh between themselves, before stepping into the elevator after the Captain.

Five minutes later they stepped into engineering.

"Now I know you're all wondering how a ship this size can travel faster than light without having to rely on the relays. Let me give you a brief explanation. With a Mass Effect drive core you reduce the mass of a vessel and then propel it through normal space, taking advantage of the ships reduced mass to reach phenomenal speeds, whereas with this engine, called a Hyperdrive Engine, we can literally tunnel into subspace and travel vast distances in a fraction of the time".

All the Admirals bar Xen were still. "Amazing! How fast can this ship go?"

Hannah smirked. 'Now there's a science fanatic of I ever saw one'.

"At top speed in hyperspace it takes a full eight days to travel from one end of the Galaxy to the other and back again". She finished her sentence and was met with silence. Then Xen promptly fainted.

All at once the Admirals burst into action, picking Xen up and shaking her awake.

"Did I just faint?" Everyone nodded. Xen looked up at Hannah and stood up straight.

"Captain, in all my years I have never once fainted. Your people have my respect for inventing such a marvellous piece of technology. Oh Keelah I might start crying, Raan hold me!" She grabbed Raan from behind causing the lead Admiral to sputter indignantly.

"Xen you bosh'tet get off me! My apologies Captain, as you can see. Xen is the fleets technomaniac". She shrugged out of Xens grasp and stepped away.

Hannah was trying desperately not to laugh. "It's fine Admiral, it's obviously a shock to see such different tech to what you're used to".

"Now if you'll follow me, I can give you a short tour of the ship while we wait for the fabrication units to finish with your parts. This way to the elevators!"

Just under two hours later the _Sun Tzu_ had finished fabricating and synthesising the supplies and parts for the Migrant Fleet and was preparing to jump into Hyperspace.

"Admirals, you may want to look out of the window for the journey. Hyperspace travel is rather eye catching". Hannah was sat with the Quarian Admirals in the observation lounge, she wanted to see their reactions in person.

"Captain, we're entering hyperspace momentarily" said her Navigation Officer over the Comm. She turned to watch out of the window.

Suddenly, the space before the ship warped and a blue and green vortex of energy burst forth and sucked the ship into itself. The Admirals exclamations were like music the Hannah ears.

"Keelah!... This is absolutely amazing! And the colours! Captain... You understated this when you said it would be 'eye catching'. I could stare at this for all eternity!" Raan was bouncing up and down like a small child. And Xen was even worse.

The two males were a lot more stoic in there responses, but Hannah could see them shaking with excitement all the same. "We will arrive in about fifteen minutes" she reminded them. But they didn't seem to be listening she smirked smugly to herself.

Right on cue the ship-exited hyperspace back into real space like a dolphin breaking through the waves. The Quarians got their first look at Earth, needless to say they loved it.

As the ship started to descend almost immediately after leaving hyperspace, Xen asked. "How many people live here Captain, I can see the cities even from this height".

"At last count, somewhere around 15 Billion. But thanks to terraforming technology and arcology centres we suffer minimal pollution and we still have room to comfortably hold another 5 Billion people".

"Keelah that's impressive! Wait, are we landing? How can a ship this size enter and atmosphere?" Xen was starting to sound panicked.

'Oh ye of little faith'

"We're not quite landing now, the ships anti-gravity field will keep us from touching the ground. We are going to the cargo bay and we are walking out of this ship".

Half an hour later they found themselves stood in front of the leader of the Systems Alliance. Admiral Hackett.

"Welcome to Earth, my name is Admiral Steven Hackett. It is my hope and that of the people's of Earth that one day, our races may call each other friends and allies". He gestured for everyone to take a seat.

"Now Captain Shepard here has apprised me of the situation with your fleet, and it was with my go ahead that she offered you assistance. How goes the repair effort?" He posed the question to Raan.

"First of all I would like to thank you on behalf of the Quarian people for your generous efforts today, and I must say you have a wonderful planet Admiral. When it comes to repairs things are going very well, we haven't had such high standard parts in decades, and the dextro rations are going a long way to ease our food stores". Hackett smiled warmly at Raan.

"I'm glad we could help. But I think we should talk about things in the long term" he noted the shocked and quizzical looks he was receiving and explained further. "Well as a species, we've been spacefaring for over a century, but besides you we've only met one other species, and that was last year. We're wanting to make friends in the Galactic community, and what better way then trade and mutual help if required?"

After a moments silence Raan found her voice. "That sounds wonderful Admiral, but may I ask, who is the other species you have met? I'll be honest with you Admiral, we Quarians are not well liked within the Galaxy and I don't want to put any previous alliances under strain if you associate with us".

Hannah was sitting silently watching the conversation unfold. And she didn't like what she was hearing so far.

"We made contact with the Asari" all the Quarians flinched slightly "just over a year ago, we have an informal trade agreement directly to them not through the Citadel. We aren't a part of the Citadel and we don't answer to the Council, why would the Asari have a problem with the Quarians?"

Admiral Raan took a deep breath, then proceeded to explain how they came to be exiled by the own creations and subsequent banishment from Council Space. By the end of her explanation Hackett and Hannah were livid.

"You mean to tell me that they left you to rot for three centuries over a simple mistake?! Yes granted AI going rogue is very bad but surely being exiled from your own world and losing millions of people to the Geth is punishment enough. And now your vilified by the Council races and seen as second class citizens?! That's outrageous!" By the end of his tirade Hackett was red in the face, and the Quarians were struck dumb.

Hannah decided to step in. "Apologies Admirals, Admiral Hackett doesn't take social injustice very well". Her words shocked them out of their silence.

"You're defending us? Why?"

"We're defending you because no one deserves to live the life your people have had to lead because of something that could have been handled better. Given the situation your people were facing three centuries ago, it was hardly surprising when they panicked. But for the Council to leave you up shit creek without a paddle- sorry human saying- is absolutely awful!".

By this point the Admirals were reduced to silent tears, seeing two strangers from a race they've only just met react so strongly in their defence was something they've never dreamed of before.

By now Hackett had calmed himself to the point where he could speak rationally.

"I would like to offer the Quarian people a few things that will hopefully make your lives a little easier. First, we offer your fleet a permit to use the dry docks at Shanxi to repair your fleet twice a year. Secondly, we offer you an Embassy here on Earth in the hopes of furthering relations between our people's. And last, but not least, we offer you the rights to a planet most suited to your needs within our borders for your people to gradually over the course of the next five years, colonise".

To say the Admirals were speechless was a rather big understatement.

"I realise this is a lot to take in, I shall leave you to discuss this with Captain Shepard. She can answer any questions you might have". And without another word, Hackett left the now silent room.

It took another five minutes before the Quarian Admirals began to break out of their shock induced silence.

"Captain, is he serious? Is your Admiral honestly offering us a planet?!" Gerrels voice was cracking and wavering dangerously as he spoke. Hannah smiled.

"He is deadly serious, he wants to help your people".

After a few seconds more silence Hannah Shepard found herself enveloped in a Quarian group hug.

"Oh Keelah! Shepard this is the greatest thing anyone has ever done for the Quarian people, we will forever be in your debt!" Raan was openly weeping by the sounds coming from her helmet. Hannah found herself tearing up as well.

It seems like today turned from boring, into amazing. Hannah smiled giddily to herself.

**A/N**

So there's Chapter 1. Tell me what you think.

I'll explain a few things here just so I don't get asked the same questions over and over.

Yes I shamelessly stole hyperspace technology from stargate, it's amazing and I love it! And yes I also stole the concepts for the shields and weapons which you will find out in the next chapter. Can you guess who they're going to meet?

And for those who want to see what the Sun Tzu looks like, think Asgard Battlecruiser crossed with human military style then enlarged to obscene proportions. But the design isn't completely utilitarian, it's just more function over form.

I don't know when the next chapter will be up as I have written this in one night so I apologise for any grammar or spelling fuck ups.

Oh and just to let you know, we won't be Earth wont be joining the Council or the Citadel for a very long time! Probably not until the sequel, which promises a lot of fun instead!

This story touches very lightly on characters and is more about the actual events that take places within the Galaxy, and yes the Reapers are out there. I might also organise a trip to another Galaxy? Maybe Andromeda? Or Pegasus? Thought?

Anyways leave some reviews and make me smile, and let me know what you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters. Hope you enjoyed the story so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**unMass Effect**

**Chapter 2**

**Quarians, Elcor and The Citadel**

**A/N**

First off! I hope you all enjoyed the first Chapter! But enough about that lets move on to Chapter 2. As you may have noticed with the title, there are going to be more dealings with the Quarians, and a surprise meeting with the Elcor. And a trip to the Citadel for Cpt. Hannah Shepard. How do you think the Turian Council member will react when he sees her ship? Anyways enjoy!

**Sol System: Quarian Embassy: 2159**

It had been just over a year since the initial treaty and trade agreement had been established between the Humans and the Quarians and relations were blossoming on both fronts. In fact, the Asari Embassy were even extending tentative hands of friendship to the newly founded Quarian nation, which at present had settled roughly ten percent of their population on the newfound colony New Rannoch.

Rael'Zorah was up for a promotion to Admiral before they met the Humans, but now he was leading the Quarian Embassy on Earth. He admitted to himself that life planet-side was much more beneficial for his wife and new born daughter.

Today he was going to be playing host to Matriarch Aethyta and Admiral Hackett to discuss mutual trade between all three races. He was rather excited to say the least.

'If my father could see me trading amicably with an Asari! On a planet I can call home no less!'

**Attican Traverse: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159**

Hannah Shepard was once again finding herself bored. She had been assigned to explore the region in the hopes of finding anything new, be it resources, planets or species. It was a broad mission in her opinion.

The _Sun Tzu _jad already catalogued several systems worth of data and resources, which had been forwarded back to a nearby science vessel for further investigation. The ship and crew were currently performing routine scans of the system ahead when they picked up a distress call.

"Captain! Unidentified vessel is sending out a distress call on all frequencies! Unknown species and ship configuration. I am also detecting weapons fire". Loki said looking worried.

"Can you locate their position?"

"Yes Captain, putting it on screen now" was the quick reply.

Hannah analysed the information shown on the view screen. It showed what looked like a cargo ship, surrounded by three faster moving vessels. Which were firing upon it.

"Loki, set course to intercept. I want our shields raised before we arrive!"

The AI nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes Captain".

"Lieutenant! Coordinate with Loki, I want pulse cannons online. When we arrive I want warning shots fired at the lead aggressor. Do not hit them until my say so".

The atmosphere on the bridge had turned overly serious as the final preparations were made.

Two minutes later the _Sun Tzu_ decelerated to a stop before a battle.

The three aggressive ships were firing mercilessly on the larger ship, slowly weakening its kinetic barriers. While the victim was futilely attempting to fire back.

"Loki! What is the status of the larger vessels shields?"

"They are currently and 30% and falling rapidly Captain. I am detecting the beginnings of hull fractures along the prow". Hannah cursed to herself. "Fire three warning shots, one for each vessel".

"Yes Captain".

On the view screen they saw three pulses of energy narrowly miss each other the attacking vessels, causing each of them to halt there assault on the larger ship.

'This is where it gets interesting' Hannah steeled herself. "What are they doing Loki?"

The hologram turned to her before speaking. "They are locking on to our position Captain, shall I fire the cannons to intercept there weapons fire?"

Hannah thought quickly for a moment. "No. I want to see how our shields cope with Mass Effect weapons fire, let them hit us. It might deter them when they see no damage has been done".

"Acknowledged".

Suddenly, all three ships opened fire at once sending multiple salvos hurtling towards the _Sun Tzu_.

"All hands brace for impact". Came Loki's calm voice over the ship wide Comm system, several seconds before the shields deflected the mass effected salvos effortlessly.

'Huh'

"Is that the best they can do? What's the damage Loki?" Hannah was smiling despite the situation.

"None Captain, their weapons bounced off our shields. Shall I return fire?"

"Yeah, but I only want to incapacitate them, reduce power to the plasma cannons and target their weapons and engines". The Captain was looking forward to seeing how their ships stood against here auxiliary weapons.

She watched eagerly as this time the energy pulses fired at the enemy ships all made contact, obliterating their kinetic barriers and disabling their weapons and engines. Luckily they avoided causing cascade failures, she didn't want to destroy them. At least not yet.

"All three ships have been safely disabled Captain. How shall we proceed?"

Hannah pondered her options for a few minutes before she made a decision. "Send a message to Hackett informing him of the attack and our intervention. Then hail the vessel we've just rescued. Loki! Download all of the ships languages, I want to be able to to speak in real time".

After a few minutes Loki notified her of the complete download and integration of two separate languages into the translation software.

"Hail the friendly vessel, audio and visual. Keep our cannons trained on the attackers, I'm not taking any chances with them".

"Yes Captain!" Rang thought the bridge.

A moment later an image of what Hannah could only describe as an alien elephant appeared on the view screen. Trusting that the translation software was running she greeted the alien.

"Greetings! I am Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, _Sun Tzu_. Are any of your crew in need of medical attention?".

_"Astonished: Hello Captain, I am Xeltan of the Elcor trade vessel Thunawuru. Gratefully: Thank you for disabling those Batarian ships"._

Hannah was amused. His speech was slow and monotonous. "Think nothing of it Xeltan, it takes a special kind of scum to attack trade vessels. How are your engines? Can you make it to your destination safely?"

_"Relieved: Yes Captain, my engines are working nominally. Gratefully: Thank you again Captain, it was pleasant meeting you". _

The connection was severed and the view screen reverted back just in time to see the _Thunawuru _jump into FTL. Hannah narrowed her eyes at the Batarian ships. 'I have no idea where there Homeworld is, and I have no intention of trespassing into there space or letting them go free... It looks like a trip to the Citadel is in order'.

"Lieutenant, set a course for the Citadel after we have scooped those ships into our shuttle bay".

"Yes Ma'am" replied Jones.

"Loki! I want a hundred marines guarding those vessels, if anyone tries to exit said ships have them stunned".

Loki smiled evilly. "Of course Captain. The Marines are assembling now".

"Excellent! Jones, take us to the Citadel. We have some pirates to hand over".

**Serpent Nebula: Citadel Council Chambers: 2159**

Councillor Tevos was getting a headache, once again she had to endure Sparatus' raging over the Batarian Hegemony and another one of the dastardly plots to overthrow the Galaxy.

'This man is beyond paranoid. And loud'

Thankfully she was saved by the stations proximity alarm. 'Wait... Proximity alarm!'

"Sparatus silence! Check your console, we have an unidentified vessel approaching".

The Turian quickly activated his console, after a few moments of frantic analysing his mandibles gaped open. "Will you look at the size of that monster! I'm assembling the Citadel fleet into defensive positions".

Tevos was reminded here and now why even though sometimes the Turian enraged her. He was good in a tight spot, so he was useful.

_"Councillors, the unidentified vessel has requested to speak with you. Shall I patch them through?" _Said a Comms Officer, sounding very worried. _"The Captain of the vessel sounds very impatient, and refuses to elaborate on the topic she wishes to discuss with you"._

Tevos blinked a few times. 'A female, in charge of a ship so large?' She gathered her wits and stood by the Holographic podiums. "Patch her through, audio and visual".

_"Yes Councillor"._

A few moments later an image of a woman sitting down in what was obviously the command centre for her ship materialised. Tevos gasped involuntarily.

"Welcome to the Citadel Captain, what business to you have with us today?" She started neutrally.

"And why have you brought such a massive ship! You're vessel is disrupting the shipping lanes!" Growled Sparatus, his sub harmonics flaring slightly.

The female glared at Sparatus before turning back to Tevos.

_"My name is Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, the Sun Tzu. Thank you for not firing upon my vessel, I would loathe to have to incapacitate more then I already have today. As for my business here let me explain... Around 30 minutes ago I was exploring the Attican Traverse as per my mission parameters when we detected three Batarian ships firing on a lone Elcor Trade Vessel, the Thunawuru. I intercepted the three aggressing ships and disabled their engines and weapons. As I do not know the location of the Batarian Homeworld, I thought it would be prudent to bring them here in my shuttle bay to be tried.. By the.. Proper authorities". _She glared at Sparatus again before continuing. _"As I speak I am depositing said ships into space, they have full functioning life support and none of the respective crews have attempted to leave their individual vessels. Please could one of your... Dreadnaughts come and collect this filth"._

Tevos was speechless, not only had this human played vigilante against Batarian pirates, but she had also arrived unannounced in front of the Citadel, demanding we take the scum she was carrying of her hands. 'Never in my 600 years have a been spoken to in such a way!'

Sparatus was quivering with rage by the end of the Captains speech. "Captain, what gives you the right to play vigilante and arrive on our preverbal doorstep without forewarning? I should have you arrested!"

The Captain turned to face the Turian Councillor and smiled. Something in Tevos' mind screamed danger.

**Serpent Nebula: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159**

Hannah was disgusted.

These Councillors were as arrogant as they come, she knew as soon as the Turian opened his mouth that they wouldn't thank her for doing their job.

"Councillors, I must say I am rather disappointed. Here I am, at the centre for Galactic Civilisation and I get threatened with an arrest. For doing the job that the Turian fleet should be doing?" She felt a childish urge to rub salt in the wound. "I guess the Quarians were right about the Council after all, luckily for them we provided them with a Planet to settle and an Embassy on our Homeworld."

She studied both of the faces present, judging their reactions. 'The Asari is calculating the risk of making matters worse... And the Turian... Oh sweet Jesus he's quivering with rage! This is just to beautiful!'

_"You impudent little wretch! You are hereby under arrest for obstruction of justice, aiding a fugitive race and the slander of the Turian people"._

And before she could even laugh off his words, the connection was severed.

"Captain! All four of the Turian Dreadnaughts are moving into weapons range. They're powering weapons" came Loki's voice over the Comm.

"Move away from the Batarian ships and raise shields. Do not fire until I say so!" Shouted Captain Shepard. 'Im getting to old for this shit'

"Acknowledged Captain, shields have been raised".

On the view screen Hannah could see the Dreadnaughts moving in to surround her ship, she smiled. 'Time to see how strong the Turians really are'.

Serpent Nebula: Turian Hierarchy Dreadnaught: 2159

As a General of a Turian Dreadnaught, the job role comes with a certain level of confidence in the abilities of the ship you are in charge of. For General Vakarian, the upcoming confrontation was just another occasion to prove those capabilities.

"Weapons! I want co-ordinated strikes with our sister ships on my mark". His Weapons officer and Comms officer notified him that his instructions had been seen to, and all was ready for his command.

General Vakarian smiled slightly to himself, as much as a Turian could smile at least. "Target their engines, I want them stranded once they try to escape".

"Understood General" came the immediate response. The General shifted in his seat slightly before speaking again. "Fire the main gun!"

**Serpent Nebula: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159**

If Hannah Shepard was asked if she felt nervous as she waited for the Turians to fire upon her vessel she would deny it vehemently. But as it stood, she was in fact feeling extremely nervous. She was after all staring down the barrel of four very big guns.

'I just hope our shields are a good as the techs say they are. Or we might be coming him with a few more port holes'. She was interrupted in her musings by the blaring alarms of her ship.

"All four vessels are opening fire Captain!" Came the ever helpful voice of Loki. Hannah cringed slightly. "Understood. All hands brace for impact!".

Exactly 3.8 seconds later, according to Loki. Four mass effected slugs slammed into her ships shields, with a considerably harsher amount of force than the three Batarian ships currently adrift amidst the battle. Hannah had in fact closed her eyes while waiting for impact, as she felt the shudder run through the walls and floor of her ship, she opened her eyes and glanced at Loki.

"How did the shields fare? I notice we haven't died yet". She let out a nervous sounding chuckle at her own cavalier attitude. Loki smiled benignly back at her.

"They fared quite well Captain, they are down to 94% and are currently recharging. Shall I return fire?"

'Only six percent? But I suppose they do have the power to deplete our shields... Eventually' she nodded silently to her AI crew member, to busy thinking of the ramifications of her shields performance to reply verbally.

She watched distractedly as Loki let loose eight bolts from the plasma cannons, two for each ship. It took another two volleys to disable the opposing vessels, all four were now drifting with minimal power reserved for life support. Hannah was worried that it took as many volleys as it did, even if they were only using their auxiliary weapons systems.

'It looks like we may need to consider using our main weapons off the bat with these guys'.

"Captain, we are being hailed by the Council". Hannah jerked out of her own thoughts and sat up straight in her chair. Waiting for the connection to come through.

**Serpent Nebula: Citadel Council Chambers: 2159**

Councillor Valern was like most of his species, a scientist at heart, and in this particular moment he was able to observe something that normally shouldn't be happening.

Councillors Tevos and Sparatus seemed to have swapped personalities.

The normally loud and obnoxious Turian was at present silent, with what he noted was a pensive expression on his angular face. On the other side of the credit chit, Councillor Tevos. The 600 year old Asari matron was practically foaming at the mouth, she was enlightening the rest on what she was so enraged about. She was clearly past verbal communication at this point.

'Fascinating...'

"Councillors..." Both his counterparts snapped their attention onto him. "We must proceed with caution, it is not everyday that we come across a new species. One that can disable four of our Dreadnaughts with apparent ease". He glared at them both, "we cannot afford to antagonise the situation further. I shall speak with this 'Captain Shepard', you may offer your input only if you can control yourselves. Clear?"

Both Councillors nodded. Tevos seemed to be calming already.

Valern accessed his HUD and hailed the behemoth _Sun Tzu_ and excitedly waited for a response.

Hannah signalled to open communications and schooled her expression into one of neutral interest. At least she hoped she looked neutrally interested. After a few seconds the three Councillors appeared on the main view screen and Hannah jumped in before they could start shouting accusations.

"Councillors. I hope there aren't any more ships heading my way in the hopes of detaining me, because as you can see, we can take care of ourselves".

She watched with a hidden satisfaction as the Turian Councillor flinched. The Salarian Councillor responded, in an exicted voice.

_"Yes Captain, we did indeed witness your ships defensive and offensive capabilities quite proficiently. Rest assured there are no more ships with orders to engage you, on behalf of the Council I would like to apologise for the rash decisions made against you. Understand, we have never been faced with such an intimidating vessel before. Hence our rather... childish act to fire upon your vessel" _

Hannah smirked inwardly. 'He is clearly the more sensible of the three'.

"Councillor, let me make one thing clear. As a race, humanity strives for peace, but that does not mean we shall bend to the petty whims of self-important people with big guns. However, I recognise that this situation calls for blame to be shared equally. I suggest we part ways for now, we may cross pass in the future. And on much better terms".

"_Of course Captain, we hope for the same thing also. Valern out."_

**Sol System: Quarian Embassy: 2159**

Rael was feeling the nerves as the time for the trade negotiations and first official meeting between an Asari and a Quarian to take place in 350 years was about to begin. 'I cannot believe I am about to be thrown to the Varrens as it were. Whichever Asari I am about to meet is going to have the surprise of her life!'

As he was musing on the particular facial expressions the as of yet unseen Asari would show at seeing a Quarian sitting at a meeting in an official capacity, the door chimed and hissed open to his right. Rael stood from his seat and walk as calmly as he could manage over to Admiral Hackett; who was leading a very shocked looking Asari into the room. The Admiral handled the introductions.

"Ambassador Zorah, allow me to introduce the Asari Ambassador to Earth. Matriarch Aethyta".

Rael cursed the Gods. 'It just had to be a Matriarch! Keelah I feel ill'. He quickly schooled his posture and spoke in what he hoped was a neutral tone.

He addressed Aethyta as an Ambassador, subtly emphasising that this meeting was not a Council issue, but a Systems Alliance meeting. She gave him a stiff nod in response.

'This is going to be hell'.

**Sol System: Admiral Hacketts Office: 2159**

"Captain, how did the impromptu meeting with the Council fare?" Admiral Hackett had received word just after the trade meeting between the Asari and the Quarians had taken place. He was intrigued to say the least.

Captain Hannah Shepard smiled micheviously, making the Admiral shudder involuntarily. 'I don't like the look of that smile. She better not have blown a hole in the side of the Citadel'.

'_Nothing to dramatic sir. They didn't take to kindly having a giant ship and its Captain doing its job for them. After a few… interesting reactions from each Councillor the Turian… Councillor Sparatus I think he was called severed the connection and ordered four Dreadnaught class ships to surround my ship. Needless to say we disabled them easily enough, without any casualties. They then re-established a connection and proceeded to apologise for their rash and childish actions and allowed us to leave"._

The Admiral didn't know how to react to the information he'd just received from his most decorated Captain. He ended up settling for a hysterical chuckle.

"OK Captain I'll take your word for it. Make sure to send the report, for now I want you to head back to the Citadel" at the Captains questioning stare he elaborated, "this is a recon mission. Earth as a whole has shown an interest in how the Citadel serves as the centre for Galactic civilisation. A cruiser will rendezvous with you and take you and a small contingency to meet with the Council members in an official capacity, as well as scouting out for other races and technology that you think would be of use to us. Understood?"

"_Yes Admiral"_

"Good, Hackett out."

**Serpent Nebula: Timbuktu Cruiser: 2159**

Hannah was a wrack of nerves; the reason for this was glaring out at her in a holographic display. The Citadel.

She was aboard the Alliance cruiser _Timbuktu_ on her way to a docking ring to meet with the Councillors that she had shown up dramatically not 24 hours before. 'And I have to meet with them _in person_. They'll probably try to scare the crap out of me!'

Once the ship docked Hannah gathered her retinue and calmly exited through the airlock, where a task force in blue armour awaited her arrival.

"Ma'am if you and your guards follow us, we will escort you directly to the council meeting room". And without as much as a by-your-leave the predominantly Turian task force led them on a winding, yet suspiciously quiet route towards a large tower.

'They mustn't want everyone to see the shiny new humans. I'll have to make a point of visiting a few stores'.

After a good five minutes of brisk walking, they came to the entrance of the sleek looking tower that supposedly housed the Citadel, they were quickly and efficiently led inside an elevator where Hannah quickly discovered that the Asari and the Quarians weren't exaggerating when it came to the speed of them.

'Oh my God these things are practically archaic in terms of speed. Maybe we could provide schematics for inertial dampeners for these glorified tin boxes'.

After what seemed like an eternity the elevator doors opened to reveal an indoor garden. Hannah gasped involuntarily. 'Ok, I didn't think they had the climate control capabilities to achieve such precision. This garden looks fantastic!'

Having raised her expectations slightly higher, Hannah followed the task force towards the back of the room, where three very familiar faces.

She approached the end of a suspended catwalk, which gave her a view of the Council members, who were currently looking down at her like a trio of Lords. 'They must consider themselves the height of power on this station. Well theres nothing like throwing a spanner in the works, I must say'.

"Councillors, how wonderful to see you again! And thank you for permitting my escort ship to dock so quickly. Allow me to say that Humanity bids you hello with a hope of peace and friendship with all the Council Races in the near future".

'I hope they caught my hint about being friends with the races. Not the Council, otherwise these talks are going to take a long time'.

The Salarian was the one to respond. "Welcome Captain, the Council too hopes for a lasting friendship with Humanity. I hope the journey from your homeworld wasn't to arduous?"

Hannah laughed jovially. "Not at all Councillor Valern, it was a relatively short jump through hyperspace to reach here".

At her words the Salarian Councillor visibly quivered with excitement. "Ah yes! Your magnificent form of FTL travel. I must say you've got the scientists back on Sur'Kesh salivating at the idea of an engine that does not require element zero. How ever did your species come across such a method?"

The Captain smiled, deciding to indulge the over excitable amphibian. "Well Councillor, it was just over a century ago that my people were looking for new ways to provide our planet with cleaner energy. A group a scientists were performing experiments with Anti-matter reactors" she ignored the gasps elicited from the three people, "they discovered, that not only could they power the planet easily, but that if they shaped the reaction it would provide massive amounts of thrust. Once that was established they soon learned that even though FTL spaceflight was now attainable, they needed a way to breach the light barrier to such an extent that galactic travel was viable, without liquefying our bodies in the process. By this point we had already learnt about subspace and we theorised that it would be possible to travel through it in a vessel.

We already had the power requirements, it was just a relatively simple process of inventing an engine capable of creating a hyperspace field to manipulate subspace to allow us passage".

"Fascinating…" was the Asari Councillors response.

"Captain, it has come to our knowledge that you have allied yourself with the Asari" spoke the Turian Councillor, "while the act in itself is perfectly acceptable, the Council has begun to wonder why you haven't approached us with an offer of alliance with the Council as a whole. Could you perhaps enlighten us?"

'Ok, time to let them down gently Hannah, just like a college boy'.

"To be blunt Councillor, while the people of Earth are curious about the Council, they have absolutely no desire to join it. Either as a member or as a client race, we are quite happy as an independent entity at this time".

A few seconds of silence passed before the shouting started.

"Your people would deny themselves the _honour_ of joining the Council… in any capacity?! This is outrageous!" was Sparatus' immediate outcry. Tevos quickly silenced him.

"Silence Sparatus! I will not have your mouth ruining these talks." She turned back towards Hannah. "Apologies, it's just that no race has ever declined a position within the Council, much less before it was even offered to them. If I may be so bold as to ask the reason for your visit if not to petition to be invited into our fold?"

"Its simple Councillors, even though was have no desire to be 'invited into your fold'. We would like to open up an Embassy on this station, in the capacity of a sovereign nation if you will. We have much to offer in terms of technology and cultural exchange, but we don't want to tie ourselves down and be subjected to some of your more… tedious laws".

This silenced all three Councillors rather effectively. 'This is going to take forever'.

"Can you clarify by what you mean why you say 'tedious'" was the Salarian Councillors neutral reply.

Hannah smiled warmly at him. 'At least on of them is willing to listen without jumping the gun'

"Certainly, as the Asari already know, we have a rather large fleet. We have taken the liberty in looking into Council law regarding fleet size and we were surprised and dismayed to find that no race is allowed over a certain number of Dreadnaughts. Humanity as a people finds this unacceptable.

We live by the mantra 'Prepare for any and all eventualities', and to have to dismantle over half of our Dreadnaughts to give the Turians numerical superiority doesn't sit right with us. I mean no offense Councillor" she directed those words at Sparatus, "but if Humanity were to come under attack from an as yet unkwown alien species, we would have to rely on the Turians if our numbers conformed to yours laws.

We don't see a reason to put ourselves in that position".

Dead silence followed her words. She decided to appease them slightly with one of her pre-approved trade options.

"We are however open to trade. It is my understanding that all your races rely on element zero for their hand held weapons technologies" she received absent nods from all three Councillors, "I have been given permission to offer you a small cache of energy based firearms, not only do you not need ammo, but they also take an extremely long time to overheat. But know this, all of our weapons that we use do not kill. They are for stunning purposes only, one shot will incapacitate your target for several hours, regardless of size".

"And what would you ask for in return?"

Hannah thought for a moment on her choices. "We would accept schematics for your most up to date Omni-Tool".

The three Councillors conferred for a few minutes before replying. "That is an acceptable deal to us. We will send the co-ordinates for an exchange to your ship momentarily. Is there anything else that we can agree on at present?"

"Many businesses expressed an interest on opening up stores all over the Citadel. Would that be possible?"

Tevos smiled slightly. "Of course Captain, be aware that any business must abide by our trading laws and each store would be charged rent for their usage. Is that acceptable?"

Hannah smiled. 'Now that was easy enough', "That would be excellent Councillor. Now if that is all I would love to have a look at some of your stores, possibly buy some items?"

All three Councillors nodded. Valern spoke. "That would be fine Captain, I shall have your escorts pay for anything you decide to buy". He quickly activated his Omni-tool and sent the required account details to the leader of the escort. "Have a pleasant stay on the Citadel Captain, we hope to hear from you soon".

**Hyperspace- en route to Kajhe: Sun Tzu Dreanaught: 2160**

It had been 6 months since Hannah had met with the Council on the Citadel, and while she was exploring storefronts and restaurants she stumbled across one of the Hospitals. After a quick discussion with the Head Doctor, she received permission for a quick tour of the facilities.

She was being shown around different wards including intensive care and rooms for long term patients when she encountered was she soon found out was called a Drell. She asked what was wrong with him to be in the long-term ward, the Doctors reply and subsequent conversation was rather enlightening.

_He is suffering from what we call Kepral's Syndrome; it is a disease that affects the lungs, preventing oxygen from entering the blood through the capillaries. Ultimately suffocating the body one cell at a time. It is a very slow process'._

"_It sounds like a condition we have back on Earth, its called Cystic Fibrosis, its main symptom among many others is the over production of mucus which results in near constant chest infections and lack of oxygen entering the bloodstream. I take it his condition is incurable?"_

_The Salarian Doctor simply nodded. _

"_Would it be possible to have a chat with him? We managed to cure CF about twenty years ago, with any luck we might be able to apply that knowledge to what is affecting him"._

What followed was a rather emotional conversation with a man who had thought his life was about to end.

So for the last six months the Drell known as Amolyet was studied treated and cured. In the process, he told the Alliance the story of how the Drell were uplifted and rescued by their host species the Hanar, a very polite race that never speak of themselves in the first person, deeming it rude and prideful.

So this is how Hannah found herself traversing to the other end of the Galaxy on a three-day journey to take Amolyet home and the initiate first contact with the Hanar and Drell officially, as well as gifting them with a cure to Kepral's Syndrome.

'I cant wait to see an Hanar in person! Amolyet showed me the vids but I'm having trouble envisaging what is essentially a floating jellyfish'.

"Captain we're approaching coordinates, dropping out of hyperspace in ten seconds".

"Acknowledged Lieutenant, prep the comms as soon as we exit". Her response was followed by a sharp. "Aye Ma'am".

"Loki, how is it looking down on the planet?" Loki flashed into existence in front of the Captain.

"It is quite remarkable Captain, 99% of the Hanar live in the Ocean, while the Drell live in climate-controlled domed cities, which are scattered all over the planets surface". He fell silent for a moment, "Captain we have just exited hyperspace and we are being hailed from the surface. Shall I open a channel?"

"Yes audio only for the moment Loki".

"Yes Ma'am".

She waited for the signal fro the AI addressing the locals. "My name is Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship _Sun Tzu_, I have with me a Drell by the name of Amolyet who we have cured of Kepral's Syndrome. It was his wish to be brought home to his family. I also bring a message of peace from Humanity with the hopes of friendship and trade with the Hanar and Drell peoples".

A few tense minutes of silence followed before a response rang through.

"This one is shocked to learn of Amolyet's curing! This one bids you welcome to Kahje, may the Enkindlers smile upon you".

Hannah smirked to herself. 'He we go again'…

**A/N**

Well that's chapter 2 done with. My fingers hurt! Sorry it isn't as long as the first chapter but I want to break things down and make it last longer.

Next chapter is obviously going to kick of with the hanar and drell meeting. Then I might go into the alliance side of things a bit more… perhaps have a mixed crew of quarians, humans and asari? Let me know what you think and leave many many reviews!


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